The invention relates to a fastening device for fastening a front plate of a drawer to metal drawer side walls or plastic drawer side walls, whereby the front plate may be of wooden material. The fastening device includes dowels which are insertable into holes in the front plate and are fastenable therein by means of clamping devices. The drawer side walls have at their front ends apertured flanges extending parallel to the front plate and on which the fastening devices are fixable.
It is an object of the invention to provide a rapid fastening of the front plate especially on metal drawer side walls. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a fastening device with a so-called zero position. This means that the front plate will always be fastened to the drawer side walls in a given position. In most cases the position is correct and extensive positioning of the front plate with respect to the drawer side walls is not necessary. If necessary, it is possible to provide an adjustment with respect to the height and/or the side of the drawer.
These objects of the invention are achieved in that the fastening device comprises at least one tensioning lever which is hinged to expanding members situated within the dowels and which extend through the holes in the flanges. The expanding members are movable into the expanding positions or release positions by tilting of the tension lever. The dowels are positioned at the side of the flange directed to the front plate and the tensioning lever is positioned at the side of the flange directed away from the front plate.
In an embodiment of the invention in which a zero position is provided, the expanding members are at least partially cylindrical with a reduction which is situated at the flange when the tensioning lever is not in the release position. When the tensioning lever is in the release position, a part of each expanding member adjacent to the reduction is held without clearance between rims of a respective hole. If the tensioning lever is in the release position, the expanding member is held between the rims of the hole without clearance, and displacement to the side is not possible. If the tensioning lever is pivoted by approximately 30.degree. toward the drawer side wall, then the expanding member is pulled so far that the reduction is situated within the hole so that a displacement to the side is possible. At this point the expanding member with the dowel is not clamped so much that a displacement would not be possible. When the tensioning lever reaches its final locking position, that is it lies at the side of the drawer side wall. The expanding member with the dowel is fixed to the flange of the drawer side wall by the clamping force of the tensioning lever.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the tensioning lever is provided with a lateral projection which in the release position projects into a hole in the flange of the drawer side wall. Such a projection locks the fastening device with respect to the height of drawer and provides a zero position in this regard. If the tensioning lever is in a position between the release position and the expanding position, then the projection does not project into the hole in the flange of the drawer side wall and the fastening device together with the front plate can be displaced in the direction of the height of the drawer side wall.
A further embodiment of the invention provides that two tensioning levers are provided on each drawer side wall, whereby the axes around which the tensioning levers are tiltable are aligned horizontally and that the tensioning levers are arranged one above the other. With this embodiment there is again provided that at least one of the tensioning levers is provided at its end situated at the axle with a projection or the like which projects into a vertical slot in the flange and/or the intermediate plate. In this way a zero position is provided for the front plate, when the tensioning lever is pushed downwardly the projection is moved out of the slot and the front plate is laterally displaceable with respect to the side walls of the drawer.
Advantageously, the flanges are formed on angled brackets which are fastened to the drawer side walls, for example clamped by means of screws. When the screw extends through a vertical slot in the drawer side wall or in the angled bracket height displacement of the front plate is possible.